


Words

by Scribbles97



Series: Post Episode Ficlets [35]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Character Thoughts, Introspection, Mostly my uncontrolled ramblings, Post Episode Fic, and kind of very similar to Gumnuts fic, the long reach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22770022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribbles97/pseuds/Scribbles97
Summary: There had to be the perfect words for when his boys found him.
Series: Post Episode Ficlets [35]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/572851
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	Words

**Author's Note:**

> Gumnut wrote a fic called Thunderbird X that is a million times better than my random musings. Their fic was posted first and I highly recommend you go and read it >>> https://gumnut-logic.tumblr.com/post/190853604306/thunderbird-x 
> 
> But anyway... Nutty knows about this fic and has given me a blessing to post it no matter how much I protested that it was far too similar.

To say he hadn’t thought about what he would say when he was reunited with his sons would be a bold faced lie. It had been a hope that Jeff Tracy had been daydreaming of since he had become stranded in the Oort cloud. Some days the possibility of ever seeing them again had seemed little more than a wish or hope, something that he could think about forever but would never actually happen. 

Still, it was those thoughts that occupied his mind every single day as he went through his routines and chores.It would of course be a momentous day if they were to find him, and Jeff wasn’t the sort of man to let that kind of day pass without some form of well thought out words. As he tinkered and fiddled it was those thoughts that kept him going in the hope that he would find just the right words to say if he ever got saved. 

The classic sarcasm had been his original plan, what had taken them so long? Could they have not picked a retirement place closer to home? Yes, he had had a wonderful holiday thank you.

After some time the last of those options had made his heart ache. 

He wasn’t on the Moon now. Not even his brief visit to Mars stood up to the place where he was. The more local planets  _ had _ been a holiday in comparison to his long fight for survival. Each and every day for years had presented a new challenge, a new problem to overcome. There had been more than one occasion when the fight had gotten too much for him and going on seemed to be prolonging the inevitable. 

The transmission had come through just at the right time. 

It was broken and scrambled but to him it was enough just to hear the fragments of John’s voice. His boys needed him, they were still looking for him. That was all he needed to know that somehow, some day they would find him. 

And so the daydreams of what a reunion would be like came back to the fore. 

It was around about that point he had started the sketch of home, a remedy to his thoughts and something else for him to think about. The feeling of that sun on his face. Fresh, breathable air that didn’t come from oxygen concentrators. Sand in between his toes. The cacophony of his family, the five boys, his mother, Kayo and even Brains. 

Which of them would come for him? Who would his perfect speech need to be tailored for?

Alan would be too young to be allowed in space. Gordon, whilst capable in zero-g, didn’t have as much enthusiasm for space flight as his older brothers. Mind, he knew the same was also true of Virgil. Though he supposed Virgil’s engineering capabilities may be required on such a long flight. Scott and John were perhaps the only two definites. The eldest son Jeff didn’t doubt would be carrying on that role of leadership as he always had with his brothers, whilst John was the son Jeff had always known would follow him to space. 

_ How are you?  _ Would be too casual, like he had only been away for days rather than years. 

_ Look at how you’ve grown! _ Would be expected, perhaps something he would save for a later conversation. 

His heart hurt at the thought of how much his boys may have changed. 

Little Allie had been so young when he had gone. It was crushing to face the reality that he would have missed so much in the young man's life. 

And what of the others? Were they all well? Or had the task of running International Rescue proven too much? Had he fated his sons to something devastating when he had left them? Had any of them been hurt? Injured? Worse?

He refused to let himself think like that. His boys were  _ his _ , stubborn and strong and smart. They would have gotten through so many life changes without him.

Would there be partners? Children? Was he a grandfather?

What he wouldn’t have given for that information, just simply for the knowledge that his boys were happy, healthy and safe. 

It had at least given him another reason to hold out for them. 

Until the damned rock he had parked himself on had begun to judder one day. 

Jeff Tracy knew what seismic activity felt like, and on a planetoid of that size he knew what it meant. 

He was running out of time. 

The Zero-x was useless, helpful for nothing more than powering the setup that had lasted him as long as was feasible. He had looked at him options plenty of times, assessed if there was a way to improvise and adapt what he had. Only one answer had presented itself to him each and every time though.

If his boys didn’t manage to come soon, the planetoid would disintegrate and take him with it. 

There had to be something. He had survived so long, it wasn’t fair that it came down to gravity and shifting rock. His boys would be coming, they had to be. Why? Why just when he had the perfect thing to say to them, was it all going to be taken away?

He had to find a way. 

Finding a way was the reason he had almost missed them. 

He’d been on the wrong side of the crevice when he saw the searchlights and what  _ looked _ like Thunderbird Four on a string. 

Except it couldn’t be. 

Could it?

Just in case, he had made a run for it, cursing as the rock broke away under his feet forcing him to jump and stumble back to his base. He could have sworn that something or someone somewhere had it in for him, that some cruel trick of fate meant he was destined to  _ not _ make it home. 

Tracy’s were stubborn though. 

As he got closer static in his ear became muffled broken bits of conversation and he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. 

Five boys. 

All his five boys. 

And a refusal to give up until they had him to take home. 

Scott sending little Alan away, the youngest just a spec in the sky as Jeff looked up and watched him float away. His eldest son sighing heavily, questioning where he could be. 

Oh how he wanted to yell that he was there, that if he just held on for two more moments he would be right behind him. 

The shift of rock took his breath away, catching him off guard but clearly catching Scott harder. For a moment he hesitated, waiting, watching to see if he would recover himself. But no, it wasn’t meant to be, there was no recovery no use of the jetpack that Jeff had stolen the design for from Lee.

It was instinct to jump after him, not thinking twice as he reacted to save the son that had come to save him. 

And then he was there, hanging from Jeff’s hand and looking up at him in awe. Every single word that Jeff had planned was suddenly forgotten. It was like the day the boy had been born all over again. The same wide blue eyes looking up at him with all the trust and love in the world. 

It seemed odd that it was the same feeling that overcame him at that moment. 

A feeling that somehow, despite everything stopping him, he would protect those boys from anything in the universe. Previous speech forgotten, he knew just what words he needed to say,

“I’ve got you, son.”


End file.
